NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Chris Robak organizes a few pieces of rock jewellery Saturday at a rock, gem and mineral show at Higdon Hall.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
Medicine Hatters flocked to the annual Rock N’ Gem show held this year at Higdon Hall.
The show ran Friday to Sunday and showcased a countless amount of rocks, gems and minerals.
“We host these shows all across Canada – Medicine Hat is one of our last stops,” said one of the organizers, Chris Robak. “We have a number of vendors here, we do this every year, and it’s a really fun gem show.”
Robak says the precious stones come from all over the world.
“Mexico, Africa, China, Madagascar, Pakistan – everywhere,” he said. “Some of the gems we actually go and get ourselves.
“We charter helicopters and travel to deep underground mines to get some of these.
“You get a really great perspective on the gems and where they come from when you actually go there and meet the people living there.”
Robak says a show like this features around 35 tonnes of precious stones – a variety people won’t get anywhere else.
“If people just go to a store to look for gems or minerals – they aren’t going to see close to as much as they would here,” he said. “We’re thinking we’ll have about 2,000 people here at the show – Medicine Hat is a busy stop.”
The event featured free admission and prices ranged from $1-3,000.
